Electric signaling system.



No. 793,244. PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905. H. B. TAYLOR.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. l, 1904.

SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 798,244. PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905. H. B. TAYLOR.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.1, 1904.

a SHEETS-SHEET 2. 49

No. 793,244. PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905. H. B. TAYLOR.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1804.

8 SHEETS-BHBET 3.

Patented June 27', 1.905.

AT raw" @FFIKJE.

lUlvAllUN (7)1 NEW JERSEY.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 798,244, dated June 27,1905.

Application filed September 1, 1904. Serial No. 223,02

'larton, a l

systems for railways employii'ig track-circuits y and adapted to heautomaticallycontrolled hy conditions in said circuits. such as presenceof trains or cars on the track, ln'oken rails, &c.

My invention also relates to the system of signaling known as the hlocksystem. in

which the track is divided into a numher of hlocks or circuits each ofwhich is provided with its own signal or signals for indicating inadvance the condition of the hlock or (7il'* cuit protected therehy.

'lhe ohjects of my invention are to provide a system of the ahovecharacter which shall he positive and certain in operation under allconditions of trattic and weather, to provide a mal danger position, toprovide a system in which the signals are electrically locked in Arailway equipped with my invention is divided in the usual manner into aseries of hlocks or track-sections, (illustrated on the drawings hy thereferenco-lettersrl f) c1/.) The rails u f), and r c" of each of thesesections are insulated from the rails of adjoining sections, asindicated hy the reference-letter so as to form separate track-circuits.Near the advance end of each hlock or at any convenient distancetherefrom for indicating to the engineer of an oncoming train thecondition of the advance section are the signalstations I II III, &c.

II and 1) indicate, respectively, home and distant signals for eachhlock. \Yhile l have shown in the drawings my system as applied to arailway equipped with hoth home and distant signals, l desire it to heunderstood that one signal only may he used for each hlock withoutdeparting from the invention. ()no instance of such a modification isshown in liig. 3. 'lhesignals may he of any suitahle construction,suchas semaphorearms ordisks, system in which the signals shall have anoreither danger or safety position requiring appropriate conditions inthe circuits to cause the electric locking means to he released and tomove the signal to the normal danger or to the safety position, toprovide normally closed and energized signal-circuits and also nor'mally closed and energized rail-circuits, and means for keeping thesignal-controlling cirfrom one position to another.

'llhe means for the accomplishment of these as desired, and may heoperated hy any suitahle mechanism. lreferahly I employ thesiginil-operating mechanism disclosed in 110i) tcrs latent No.ttl-lailst, granted to me April 13, 1900.

Each of the track-circuits is energized hy a hattery 1. or othersuitahlesource ofcurrent. As the several circuits required for controlling thesignals are similar for each section, adescription of oueof them will hesullicient.

, 'lhe hattery or other source of current 1 is cuits closed duringmovements of the signals and other ohjects will fully appear in thefollowing detailed description and he more particularly pointed out inthe claims.

Figure l is a diagrammatic view of a poi" tion of a railway equippedwith my invention circuits. Fig. is a similar view of one of thesignal-stations shown in Fig. l, hut on a connected to each of the railsof a section, as shown. At the opposite end of the section a relay 2 isalso connected to the rails of each section. It will thus he soon thateach section forms a inn'nially closed track-circuit from one side ofthe hattery l, through one rail 6, to and through the relay 2, to theother rail 1 lj", and hack to theotherside of the initttlll) l. andillustrating the various rail and signal 1 Each relayQ controlsadouhle-tongued switch with tongues and 4:. The function of theswitch-l: will he hereinafter descrihed. It will he understood that therelay 2 operates hoth tongues 3 and switch -1 siiiiiiltaueously. Thetongue I normally makes contact at 3 to close a circuit through aconnection 5 to a common conducting-wire 6. (This commonconducting-wire'6 extends throughout the length of the track to form areturn-circuit for the several connections.) From this conducting-wire 6the circuit referred to passes through a connection 7 to another relay 8of the next rearward signal-station, through the same and back throughconnection 9 to the circuitbreaker 3. This circuit just described isenergized by a battery 10 or other source of current. Relay 8 operates adouble-tongued circuit-closer having tongues 11 and 12. The tongue 11controls the signal-operating circuit from the signal-battery 13,through the connections 14, and either 15 or 16 16, connection 17,signal-switch 18, connection 19, signal magnet-coil 20, connections 2122, back to battery 13, and also from signal-switch 18, connections 23,signal-motor 24, connection 22, back to battery 13. The other tongue 12of relay 8 controls a circuit which operates a .relay 25 at the rearwardsignal-station and includes a source of current 26 for energizing saidrelay 25. This circuit is from battery 26, connection 27 relay 25 of therearward station, connection 28, common wire 6, connection 29, tongue12, contact 12, back to battery 26.

Relay 25 operates a circuit-closer 30, which, with anothercircuit-closer 38, controls a circuit from signal-switch contact 18through connection 31, circuit-closer 38, connection 32, circuit-closer30, connection 33, signalswiteh 34 of distant signal D, connection 35 tomagnet-coil 36 of distant signal D, connections 37 and 22, and battery13.

Circuit-closer 38 is one member of a double-tongued circuit-closerhaving tongues 38 39, which are operated together by a relay 40. Thisrelay is energized by a source of current 41, and the circuit thereof isfrom battery 41, connection 42, switch-contacts 43, connection 44, relay40 at the signal-station in advance, connection 45, common wire 6,connection 46, back to battery 41. Circuit-closer 39 controls thecircuit from battery 13, through 14, contact 39, tongue 39, connectionl6 l6, circuit closer 11, connection 17, and thence throughsignal-switch 18, as before described. Contacts 43 are controlled bydistant-signal switch 34, which is provided with a blade 34 insulatedfrom blade 34, and which bridges contacts 43 when said switch is movedby the movement of distant signal D.

It will be understood that, as set forth in my patent hereinbeforementioned, the signalswitches 18 and 34 are mechanically operated bysignals H and D, respectively, to move from one set of contacts to theother. Switch 18 in the normal danger position of signal H makes contactwith contacts 18 and 18 and in the safety position of signal H movesover to make contact with contacts 18 and 18. Contact 18 is connectedwith connection 48,

which leads from contact 4 of switch 4 to coil 49 of the signal-magnetof signal H, and contact 18 is connected with connection 31. Switch 18is provided with an extension 18 insulated, as shown, from the mainswitchblade 18. This extension-piece in the safety position of thesignal H bridges contacts 18 and 18 Contact 18 is connected with contact18" by connection 18 and contact 18 is connected with contact 34 ofsignal-switch 34 by a connection 50.

Switch 34 of signal D in the normal danger position of that signal makescontact at 34 with connection 35 and also makes contact at 34 withconnection 50, leading to contact 18 of the switch of signal H. In thesafety position of signal D switch 34 is moved over to bridge contacts43, as above described, and also makes contact with 34.

Switches 4, 18, and 34 are so constructed as to make what may be termedfollowing contactsthat is, in moving from one position to another thereis no break in the circuit, but the new contacts. are made before theold ones are broken. This secures steadiness of operation and relievesthe sources of current from sudden fluctuations.

\Vith the above description of the various parts of the system itsoperation may now be described. It will be understood under normalconditions all the signals are in danger position and are electricallylocked in said position by their magnet-coils in similar manner to mypatent hereinbefore mentioned, requiring the proper conditions to bepresent in the track or rail circuits before they are moved to indicatesafety. All the circuits, both signal and track circuits, are closed andenergized. Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the signal-stationsindicating the conditions of blocks 7), c, and Cl are designated forconvenient reference by the numerals I, H, and III, respectively. Eachstation is provided with home and distant signals for said blocks,(indicated as H, H, or H and D, D or D respectively.) It will beunderstood that the direction of travel of a train or car upon thesystem as illustrated is from right to left, as shown by the arrow. Innormal condition, with no train or car on any of the sections, thecircuits will be as follows: from the battery 13 of signal-station I,through connections 14 15, switch 4, contact 4, connection 48,magnet-coil 49 of signal H, connections 21 22, back to the battery 13.Magnetcoil 49 may be a high-resistance coil, and the effect of thecurrent circulating therein, as will be understood from my patent hereinreferred to, is to electrically lock the signal H in the normal dangerposition. As the home and distant signal of each station aremechanically interlocked in any well-known manner, when the home signalis in danger position the distant signal is also held in danger positionuntil the home signal drops to safety. The distant signal is then incondition to drop when its circuits are properly controlled. lf now atrain or car enter block b, the wheels and axles of the same will bridgethe rails of said block and short-circuit relay 2 of signal-station .ll.This relay thereby becomes deenergized. and switch T moves over tocontact t. The circuit now passes from the battery 13, thrmighconnections Lt l5, switch r, contact t", connections 16, circuitcloser11, contact ll, connection 1?, through signal-switch 18 to contact 18.connection ll), coil 20 of signal ll", which may he of relatively lowresistance and which operates to electrically clutch the signal ll withthe motor. The circuit also passes from connection IT and switch-blade18 to contact 18'', thence through connection 23, motor 2 t,connectionli, back to battery 3. The motor-ht; ing thus energizedoperates to shift the signal II" to safety position. This, as will beunderstood, will occur if the relay 8 of station ll be energized to holdits circuitcloscr 11 on contact ll, keeping the circuit through 16 andIT closed. If block w, however, be occupied or the rail-circuittherethrough be interrupted by a broken or displaced rail or otherwise,the signal .ll" will not be operated to indicate safety, but will remainin danger position. The movement ofsignal ll to safety position alsomoves switch-blade lRover to the contacts is" lo" 1H" 18' .l hereup 'inthe circuit passes fromsignal-switch it to contact [8",connection -LH,signal-coil t), and connections 21 back to battery 13, thus energizingsignal-coil if) and locking signal ll" in safety position by the samemeans as locked .it in danger position. The circuit also passes from thesignalswitch 18 to contact through connection 31, circuit-closer 3b.,connection 31 circuitcloser 3f connection :3 3 to the signal-switch 3 tof the distant signal I)", thence through connection 35, coil So (whichmay be of rela tively low resistance) of said distautsignal connections37 and 722 back to the battery 1 The circuit also pas. sfromthesignal-switch 34: through conne ion 50 to contact 18,switell-extension 1 18, contact to", and through connection 2 3, motorit, back to the battery 13. The current circulating in coil 3b of signall)" and motor 2% operates to move the signal I) to safety position. theeffect of the coil 3b being to electrically clutch said signal with themotor.

The movement of signal l)" also moves 1 and switch member 1 connectionit, and relay 40 at signal-station Ill. This relay t0 then becomesenergized and operates the double-tongued circuit-closer 3b 39 atstation 111. The tongue 39 makes contact at 30, and the tongue I58breaks contact at 3U, so that the circuit from battery 13 ofsignal-station III will be from said battery, connection H, contact 3i),tongue 3.), connections 1t), 16, and

, 1T, switch-blade lo, through the low-resistance coil so and motor 2%,as before described,

to move the signal ll at station III to safety position and lock itthere. By these means the signals at consecutive stations areinterlocked, the distant signal of a rearward station always giving thesame indication as will be found at the home signal of the station inadvance. It will be seen that the presence of a train or car in section7) deenergizes relay 8 at station I, this relay being controlled, asbefore explained. by thecircu it-breaker 30 f relay 2 at station ll.Thus the home signal ll cannot beoperated, but remains in normaldangerposition, and locked in that position, the current from battery 1?) atstation l circulating through the connections H l5,switch 4, connectionTo, and coil 41), and connections2l and since the circuit throughconnections 16 IT is broken at contact It as soon as the train is on thesaid section 6. In addition to this the train on the section alsocontrols the distant signal I) of the station in rear of station I. Thiswill more readily appear if the train be supposed to be on section when,as above explained, the home signal ll at station ll will be locked inits normal danger position and cannot be operated, and distant signal l)at station I would also be locked in its normal danger position. Thislatter results from the fact that the train insection a by deenergizingrelay 5 at station .11 breaks the circuit at contact 12 of battery 26 atthat sta tion, thereby deenergizing relay at station l, breaking thecircuit through connections 32 and 33, which operate said distant signalI) and station 1. Thus itwill be seen that by 1 my system as hereindescribed the train aucontact 18", connection switch-blade 'B-t,whereupon the circuit passes from said switch-blade to contact it"through i thecircuit at contacts it and I2.

connection 51. signal-coils 52 and 36 in series,

connections 37 and "32 back to the battery 13. (,oil is of relativelyhigh resistance, and being thus energized acts to lock signal l) inshifted or safety position.

tomatically signals in advance and also in rear. The presence of a trainon section b, for instance, operates the home and distant signals ll andl) at station lI, causing said signals to be set to safety if bothsections 1 and 1/ are clear. If, lunvever, section c be clear andsection (Z be occupied or its track-circuit interrupted or deranged byaccident, then relay s at station ill. will be der'Fnergized, breakingThe breaking of the circuit at l2 deenergizes relay 25 at station ll.thereby breaking the circuit at in moving to its l shifted position themember 3st" of switch 34: i

bridges contacts TIE. This completes the circuit from battery ll throughsaid contacts 4. 3

, which operates distant; signal D" so that l)' cannot be operated, butwill remain locked in danger position. Thus the engineer of the train insection will on approaching station ll get a clear signal for the homesection w, (signal ll being operatmh) but a danger signal for section(Z, signal D at station 11 being held in danger position by thedeenergizing of therelays just described. He will therefore know that hehas one section 0 clear and the next section (Z obstructed. If section(Z be still obstructed or occupied when he arrives at station 111,signal H will be held at danger, corroborating signal D at station II.My system is also adapted for use in connection with a single signal foreach station as, for instance, the three-position signal illustratcd anddescribed in Patent No. 684,881, granted to me October 22, 1901. Mypresent invention, used in connection with this signal, is illustratedin Fig. 3 of the drawings, in which S represents a signal-blade, itsthree positions being indicated by dotted lines S S. The track-circuits,relays, &c., are the same as above and are indicated by the samereference-numerals. The signal-circuits are as follows: The signal S islocked in normal danger position by means of the annular magnet-coil 49,the current circulating from the battery 13, through connection 14,switch 4, connection 48, connection 60, circuit-closer 30, connections61 62, signal-coils 49 and 20 in series, connection 63, back to battery13. On the short circuiting of relay 2 by the presence of a train insection a switch 4 moves over the contact 4. The circuit is then fromsignal-battery 13, through connection 14, switch 4, connection 16,circuit-closer 11, connection 17, to contact-stud 17 on the signalswitch plate X, thence by connection 17 to signal-switch 18. From theswitch 18 the circuit passes to contact 18, connections 64 65, signalcoil 20, connection 63, back to the battery 13; also, from switchblade18, contact 18", connections 66 and 67 to motor 24, connections 68 63,back to battery 13. Signal-coil 20 operates to clutch the signal withthe motor, and by the energizing of the motor, as described, the signal,if the section in advance be clear, will be moved to position S,indicating one section in advance clear. Switch 18 has a second arm 18fast thereto, but insulated from arm 18, as shown. Arm 18 is so formedthat when this switch is moved to either one of the shifted positions itwill bridge contacts 43, closing the circuit through battery 41,hereinafter referred to. In the movement of the signal S to its firstposition S switch-blade 18 moves to a contact 18, without, however,leaving contact 18. This movement of the switch also bridges contacts43. In this shifted position the circuit passes from the switch-blade18, as before, through connections 64 and and coil 20 of the signal; butinstead of passing through connection 66 it passes from contact 18through connections 69 31, circuit-closer 38, connection 32,circuit-closer 30 connections 67, motor 24, connections 68 63, and backto battery 13, provided these circuits be closed at contacts 38 and 30.Thus the signal will be moved to the third position S. The circuitthrough contacts 38 and 30 is dependent upon relays 40 and 25,respectively. Relay 40 is energized by battery 41 of the signal-stationin rear, the circuit of this battery being through connection 42,contacts 43, connection 44, relay 40, connection 45, common wire 6,connection 46, back to battery 41. In the normal danger position of thesignal at the rearward station switch-blade 18 will not close contacts43, and relay 40 will therefore not be energized, so that the circuitthrough contact 38 will be closed. This circuit, however, is alsocontrolled by circuitcloser 30 which is operated by relay 25. Relay 25is energized by battery 26 at the station in advance, the circuit beingfrom battery 26, through connection 27, relay 25, connection 28, commonwire 6, connection 29, circuit-closer 12, contact 12, back to battery26. lircuit-closer 12 is in the circuit of relay 25 of the rearwardstation, and this relay is in turn dependent upon relay 8 of the sta'tion in advance, relay 8 being in turn dependent upon the track-circuitsecond in advance. If, therefore, two sections in advance be clear,signal S will be operated by the circuit through circuit-closer 38 and30 to move to third position S. Switch-blade 18 then moves to contact 18and away from contact 18, while switch-blade 18 still bridges contacts43. The circuit is then as follows: from switchblade 18, contact 18,connections 71 48 60, circuit-closer 30, connections 61 62, signalcoils49 and 20 in series, connection 63, back to battery 13, thus locking thesignal S in third position S. This circuit is also dependent upon relay25, which is in turn dependent upon relay 8 at the station in advance.This system, it will be seen, operates in all respects the same as thedouble-signal system previouslydescribed, the signals at adjacentstations being interlocked by means of the switch-blade 18*. It will beapparent that the presence of a train upon asection signals in advanceand in rear and that two blocks in advance are indicated by the signal.

It will be seen from the above description that the track-circuits arenormally energized and that the signal-circuits are constantlyenergized, except when a train or car is partly on one track-section andpartly on the adjacent track-section, during which interval thesignal-circuits are deenergized, permitting the counterweights to returnthe signals to their normal danger position, whereupon thesignal-circuits become energized to maintain the signals in their normaldanger positionthat is to say, the signal-circuits are not broken duringthe movement of the signal from danger position to safety.

With other signal systems with which I am acquainted it frequentlyhappens that both home and distant signals at a station may inclicatesafety, but on arriving at the next station in advance the home signalwill indicate l "dangerfithus contradictingthe signal previl ouslygiven. This cannot happen with my system. it the distant block beoccupied. the distant signal at the home station will indicate thiscondition a block in advance, and no contradictory signals will result.

The switches being so constructed that in passing from one contact toanother the circuit is never broken, there is merely transition from onecircuit to the other. Thus both the signal and rail circuits arenormally closed and energized. This results in steadiness ot operationand prevents jumping of the signals and also keeps the action of thebatteries or other sources of current from deterioration which wouldresult from open circuits 1 and secures quick battery action. Thesignals being electrically held or locked by means of their signalcoilsin either position is also an important feature of advantage, especiallya in win ter-time, when the semaphore-arms become weighted byaccumulations of snow or ice and overbalance the counterweights, thustending to drop and give a false indication of sat'etyf or thecounterweights may become displaced or broken, allowing thesignz'il-arms to drop. My invention tlms provides a signal system havinggreat certainty of operation and reliability and enables the engineer ofa train to receive timely and conlirmatory warnings of the condition ofadvance sections.

llaving thus described my invention, what [claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A signal systemcomprising signals normally indicating danger,normally closed and energized signal-operating circuits, said circuitsoperating to maintain the signals in either danger or safety position,and normally closed track-circuits for controlling the signalcircuits.

2. A signal system, comprising signals havi ing normal danger position,signal-circuits tor operating said signals. normally energizedtrack-circuits, relays in the track-circuits, and devices operated bysaid relays tor controlling the sigmil-cireuits and maintaining saidcircuits closed when the signals are in normal po sition, throughouttheir movements trom normal to sat'ety position and in the saletyposition.

3. Asignalsystemernnprisingapluralityot normally closed track-circuits,a normal danger-signal tor indi :ating the condition of advancetrack-circuits, normally closed and energized signal-circuits forcontrolling and opcrating said signal, and switch devices and circuit-closers operated by the track-circuits tor controlling saidsignal-circuits.

4.. A signal system comprising normal danger-signals, normally closedand energized circuits for operating said signals. normally energizedtrack-circuits tor controlling the nal-circuits, and a tollowingcontact-switch in i the signal'circuits, said switch controlled by thetrack-circuits.

A signal system comprising normal danger-signals, circuits energized asdescribed for operating said signals, normally energized track-circuitstor controlling the signal-circuit-s, a plurality olt'olli'iwingc(nitactswitches in and controlled by the signalcircuits.

(i. A signal system comprising normally closed track-circuits, normaldanger-signals, signal-circuits for controlling said signals, saidsignal-circuits controlled by the trackcircuits and arranged to lock thesignals in danger or safety position and reloek the signals on returnfrom safety to danger position.

7. A signal system comprising a plurality ol tracl\'-circuits, a normald anger-signal for each track-circuit, each signal indicating thecondition of a plurality of advance track-circuits, signal-circuits forcontrolling the signals, said signal-circuits controlled by thetrack-circuits and operating to retain the signals in normal dangerposition.

b. A signal system comprisii'ig a plurality of normally energizedtrack-circuits,normal danger home and distant signals tor indicating thecondition of advance track-circuits, normally energized signal-circuitsfor operating said signals, and means for operating a rearward distantsignal and an advance home signal, said means being controlled by anadvance track-circuit.

t). A signal svstem comprising a plurality of normally energizedtrack-circuits, normal danger home and distant signals for indicatingthe condition of advance track-circuits, normally energizedsignal-circuits for operating said signals, means controlled by adistant signal for operating the next home signal in advance.

10. A signal system comprising a plurality of normally energizedtrack-circuits, a signal comprising separate home and distant; signaldevices for indicating the condition ol a plurality of advance track-circuits, signal-circuits normally energized and closed for operating saidsignal devices, switches tor controlling the signal-circuits, the switchot a distant signal device controlling thesignal-circuit ol thehome-signal device ol the signal next in advance, said signal deviceshavinga normal position ol' danger.

11. .-\,signal system comprising a plurality ol normally closedtrack-circuits, electromagnetic devices in said circuits, signals torindicating the conditionot advance track-circuits, signal-circuitsforcontrollingsaidsignals,elee tromagnetic devices in saidsignal-circuits, said electromagnetic devices operating to hold thesignals in either danger or satety position, switches andcircuit-closers operated by the track and signal circuits forcontrolling said signals.

12. .\,signal system comprising a plurality of normally closedtrack-circuits, a signal tor nal-circuit, electromagnetic devicescontrolled by the signal-switches for locking each signal in danger orsafety position, said signal-circuits controlled by thetrack-circuit-operated switch.

14a Asignal system comprising a plurality of normally closedtrack-circuits, home and distant signals for each track-circuit,signalcircuits for operating the signals, a switch operated by eachtrack-circuit, a switch operated by each signal-circuit, electromagneticdevices controlled by the signal-switches for locking each signal indanger or safety posiaoaeaa tion, said signal-circuits controlled by thetrack-circuit-operated switches, the electromagnetic signal-operatingdevices of the home signal of an advance block controlled by the distantsignal of the block in rear.

15. A signal system comprising a plurality of track-sections,track-circuits for such sections, normal danger-signals for indicatingthe condition of advance track-sections, closed and engergizedsignal-circuits for controlling said signals, electromagnetic devicesconnected to the rails of adjoining track-sections for controlling saidsignals.

16. A signal system comprising a plurality of track-sections, normallyclosed track-circuits for said sections, signals for indicating thecondition of advance track-sections, closed signal-circuits forcontrolling said signals and electromagnetic devices connected to therails of adjoining track-sections for controlling the signals andlocking the same in any of their positions.

HERBERT B. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

W. P. HAMMOND, P. F. SONNEK.

